“Maybe I don’t want to own Amazon.” – look down

The pattern is simple. XYZ is small and unnoticed. XYZ gets a bit bigger over years two to four – yet still unnoticed. XYZ skyrockets in years 5 to 7 and is now on everyone’s radar. TV shows and blogs. Friends bring it up over drinks. Co-workers start talking about it like it is the weather. But some of them want to impress you and enliven themselves with tiny colorings of the truth. Of course, they “bought in a few years ago”. But you know you didn’t. Damn.

And that was an upper. FOMOs also come in downer versions. Like all those luminaries who cashed out in the summer of 2008. You just don’t see downers as often because they are more expensive.

And this is how it happens my friend – how the investor starts using and getting high off the latest version of the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) drug. You can tell when someone is using. They will often be happy to tell you, as we suggested. There are subtler symptoms of ‘outcomes chasing’ FOMO dependancy as well; including an inability to articulate the basis for an investment position, or holding numerous ‘buzz word’ positions in a portfolio with recent purchase dates. I guess it all started for me twenty years ago. I mean. I was rolling out of university in 1999 for heavens sake. Tech-laced FOMO drugs were everywhere. I hate to say it, but I still get urges to this day. Continue reading “Just Say No to FOMO; Processes > Outcomes” →